Intro: can’t get past this stage.

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So I used to have two cages, one ferplast rat cage with two rats in (Pascal and Remy) and one with 4 rats in (Grandma who is spayed, Basil, Cheddar and Diego).

Remy really didn’t get along with intros and I saw little point as he was happy with Pascal so I just had two cages but unfortunately Remy passed away leaving Pascal on his own

I introduced Pascal to my other rats and it was going really well! I used the carrier method and got to the point where they were sharing one half of their big cage (it’s like a critter nation but a slightly cheaper version) with nothing enclosed.

Unfortunately this is now the stage where fights have broken out, they have stopped cuddling together. Pascal gets along with Grandma but is really struggling now to get along with the boys. He is quite dominant and did try to mount them a lot, but now as soon as he gets anywhere near them they start boxing and squeaking.

There’s been no major injuries apart from a very superficial cut to Pascals ear. Usually the fights do dissolve themselves, but they just aren’t getting along

I tried going back a step and put them in a smaller cage, they were all cuddling in one hammock again and seemed fine apart from one boxing match. I deep cleaned the big cage again and went back to there but they still don’t seem to be happy with each other. They either ignore each other or get into little scraps when they get near each other.

I’m not sure whether I need to consider neutering some of the boys, separate them again or just wait it out and hope they learn to get along better. Any advice would be grand!